The international media is held up at Gaza’s gates.
(GAZA) - As a result of the closure of the border crossings by the Israeli authorities, international media personnel continue to be excluded from the Gaza Strip, where the military operations are taking place.
Many western media reporters are covering events from the border, from where they can see the effects of the air strikes and the fighting from a distance.
The Foreign Press Association, which groups foreign journalists based in Israel, appealed to the Israeli supreme court on December 31st for 12 journalists to be allowed into the Gaza Strip when the borders crossings were opened to let humanitarian aid in.
The supreme court ruled in favour of the FPA request but the border has continued to be closed for the media.
The Israeli Defence Forces said it would not be able to keep the border crossings permanently open for security reasons, because the crossings could become targets for Hamas rockets.
The IDF and the FPA have also not yet agreed on the list of journalists who would be allowed into the Gaza Strip.
Several international news agencies nonetheless have personnel in the Gaza Strip. They include Reuters and AFP, which employ Palestinian reporters and photographers.
Several independent Palestinian news agencies such as Ramattan (ramattan.com/) and Ma’an (maannews.net/) are feeding news reports and video footage to the foreign media including the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera and the US television news network CNN.
For the time being, Reporters Without Borders is not aware of any casualties among the Palestinian journalists working in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Reporters Without Borders
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